Roadless vehicle adapted for traveling over rough ground



Sept. 23, 1930.

E. F. NORELIUS ROA-DLESS VEHICLE ADAPTED FOR TRAVELING OVER ROUGH GROUNDFiled Nov. 6, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l wuentop Emil F. nraliu:

. Sept. 23, 1930. v E. F. NoRLlus I 1,776,446

ROADLESS VEHICLE ADAPTED FOR TRAVEBING OVER ROUGH GROUND 4 I v gnoautozEmil FlNnrelius f 0 1 s O v O Patented Sept. 23, 1930 FATE O "EMIL r.NORELIUS, or DAVENPORT; row'A RoAntEss vEii IoLE ADAZETED r03 TRAVEL NGovnnnouen GROUND Application'filed November 6,1925. Ser1a1 No'. 67,419.

' emnrnniimim rm; A6: or rumor: a. ssass AMENDED Ann. so;-1e2s; 370 o.e. m)

qaThe; invention described herein maybe manufactured and used by 'orforthe Government for governmental purposes without the paymentto meofanyroyalty thereon.

. 5 This invention relates to roadless vehicles adapted for travelingover rough ground,

. and in particular it has reference to that type of four wheel drivevehicle in which the front and rear axle units are so articulated as ton1 afford correlated turning movement and independent rotationalmovement. 7

With a View toward simplifying and strengthening a vehicle of thischaracter the present invention contemplates the provi- 2 5 sionofconcentric torque tubes pivoted on a vertical axis to the front andrear axle units so as to furnish an eifective connection between theaxle units while permitting them '7 to turn out of parallelism witheachother and the torque tubes swiveled on each other 5 so as to permit theaxle units to have relative rotating movement in traveling over roughground.

Another important feature of the inven- 55'25 tion consists incompletely enclosing the drive mechanism within the axle units and thetorque tubes, a propeller shaft being universallyconnected in line withthe vertical pivots of the torque tubes to the difierential drive.Axfurther aim is to provide an improved steering mechanism forcontrolling and correlating the angular movement of the axle units withrespect to the torque tubes.

With these and other ends, myinvention consists in the construction,arrangement, and combination of elements, described'herea part of thisspecification. V t A practical embodiment of the invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein: Y

. t Fig. 1 is a vielwinleft side elevation and q partly in section ofavehicle constructedin 1 universal, joints 8 ing movementofthe tubes.

Referring to the drawings by numerals of reference:v 5 a v i The vehicleconsists of two principal units, a rear axle unit 5 and a frontaxle'unit 6 each housing a drive shaft 5 and:6 geared tol a more or lessconventional differential which drives the wheels throughicorint'ershafts along standardlines' Thepower. plant is preferably?mounted within the. rear axle unit 5 and transmits its power through asuitable 0 multiple speed; drive T ;'to the drive (shaft 5 A.propellershaft8 is connectedxat each-end through univ'ersaljoints 8toithe driveshafts 5 and ,6 ifor: thepurpose of communicating power to.the front axleunit v V The axle units are-connectedand-held together byme'ansof concentric torque tubes 9,; and 10 each pi'vot'ed on verticalpins 11 and 12 respectively to the rear and front axle unitsth'erebypermitting the axle units .70

to' turn out 'of parallelism with each other. The attaching ends of thetubes. which re- "ceive' the pivot pins are preferably pro vided withcastings '93? and 10 having hem- "i'sphericalportion's to accommodatethe .75

of the'propelled shaft which is disposed within the torque tubeassembly. The tube 10 has a..frjee fit within; the tube???-..to.=-enable the axle units to have {independent rotational movervment'm traveling over-roughgror1ndr The tubes are securedagainst],endwaymovement inany convenient manner, specifically by meansof a fixed collar 13 on the forward end of the outer tube 9 to which isbolteda split ring 14 which.bears against aiflange 10 formed on therearend of inafter and pointed out in the claims forming Y i'securmgbolts are dlsposed m Slots the casting 10.

10 in the flange l0 so as to permit swivel- As previously described, thepivot pins 11 and 12 permit the two axle-unitsto turnat an anglewithrelation toeach other and to ,the-torquetubes. 1 Since the guiding ofthe vehicle is to be controlled by direct associa- 05 tion ofthesteering mechanism with the rear axle unit it isnecessary tocorrelate the angular movement of both axle units so that thedirectlycontrolled rear unit will follow the track of the front unit. Tothis end there are provided'a pair of bevel gear segments 16 and 17respectively secured to the rear andfront units and extending forwardlyand rearwardly therefrom. The segments engage with a double bevel pinion18 revolubly mounted at the center of the torque tubes by meansv ofrollers 19 running in arace 20. The meshing of the segments and pinionsthroughout all movement of the axle units is assured by reason of thefact that the torque tubes have no vertical movement with respect to theaxle units carrying the segments. .As

' the rear axle unit carrying the segment 16 is tubes and universallyconnected to the drive shafts, a forwardly and rearwardly extendingbeveled gear segment secured respectively to the rear and front units, adouble bevel pinion revolubly mounted on the torque tubes and geared tothe segments, and means directly associated with the rear axle unitforcontrolling the angle between said axle unit and the tubes.

' 3. A vehicle embodying front and rear axle units, a connection pivotedverticallyto I each unit, adouble pinion revolubly carried by theconnect1on,'a gear segment secured to each unit and meshing with thepinion, a

screw shaft j ournaled in one of the segments,

a nut on said shaft, a carrier on the connec- EMIL NoR LrusQ 22 a screwshaft 23 journaled in brackets 2ton'thev segment 16. Carried by thescrewshaft 23. is a cylindrical nut 25 confined in a tubular carrier26securedcentrally to V the casting 9 and of sufficient size to permitslight longitudinal movement of the axle unit and torque tubes. In theoperation of steering, the rotation of the screw shaft causes the rearaxle unit to be moved from it's'normal' position perpendicular tothetorque 7 tubes.

trated and described such combination and is nevertheless desired toemphasize the fact that interpretation of the invention should nly beconclusive when made; in the light 1 of the subjoinedclaims. V v

I claim:

I '1. A vehicle;embodyingfront and rear axle units, concentric torquetubeshaving swivehn'g movement with respect to each While in theforegoing there has been illusarrangement of elements, as constitute theY preferred embodiment of the invention, it

other each pivoted'toone of theunits on a vert cal axis, a. drive shaftin each unit, a

propeller shaft disposedwithin the torque tubes and universallyconnectedto the drive shafts in line with the'p'ivotal connection of thetorque tubes and 'axle'units', a forwardly "andrearwardly extendingbeveled gear seg 'ment secured respectivelyto'the rear and front units,adouble bevel pinion revolubly mounted on the torque tubes and geared tothe segments, andmeans directly associated i 2. A vehicle embodyingfront and rear axle units, concentric torque tubes having swivelingmovement with respect. to each other each plvoted'to one of the units ona with therear axle unit for controlling the "angle between said axleunit and the tubes.

vertical axis, a drive shaft in each unit, a

propeller shaft disposed withinfthe torque -tion' for confining thenut,.and 'means'for actuating the screw nut.

